University Library Collection
The library collection contains nearly 1,000 non-fiction titles related to Dalits. Over 80% of those titles are in English. However, many of these books were translated to English from South Asian vernacular. This page highlights some notable works in English and South Asian vernacular.
English Non-Fiction
Some scholars that have focused their research about Dalit history are: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Dipankar Gupta, Gail Omvedt, Vijay Prashad, Jagjivan Ram, Ghanshyam Shah, V. T. Rajshekar, Sukhadeo Thorat, and Eleanor Zelliot. Here are selected non-fiction Dalit resources in English:
Dalit: The Black Untouchables of India by Call Number: 305.560954 R138a 1987 - Main StacksISBN: 0932863051Publication Date: 1987After Centuries of slavery, apartheid and ethnocide, the silence is broken. One hundred million Dalits in India, the twentieth centurys largest, most repressed minority, cry out for the ear of the world.
Dalit Visions: The Anti-Caste Movement and the Construction of an Indian Identity by Call Number: 305.5122 OM8D - Main StacksISBN: 8125028951Publication Date: 1995Dalit Visions explores and critiques the sensibility which equates Indian tradition with Hinduism, and Hinduism with Brahmanism; which considers the Vedas as the foundational texts of Indian culture. It shows that even secular minds remain imprisoned within this Brahmanical vision and steeped in a Hindu ethos. The tract looks at alternative traditions, nurtured within Dalit movements, which have questioned this way of looking at Indian society and its history.- From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement byCall Number: 305.51220954 Z38F - Main StacksISBN: 818542537XPublication Date: 1992On the Dalit Movement started by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, 1892-1956, Indian statesman and social reformer, in the Indian state of Maharashtra (Ambedkar's home state).
Interrogating Caste by Call Number: 305.51220954 G9592i - Main StacksISBN: 0140297065Publication Date: 2000The caste system has been perceived by scholars as a hierarchy based on the binary of purity and pollution. Challenging this position, Dipankar Gupta argues that a fixed hierarchy is arbitrary and valid only from the perspective of the individual castes. Provocative and finely argued, Interrogating Caste provides fresh insight into caste as a social, political and economic reality.
Dalits in India: Search for a Common Destiny by Call Number: 305.5688 T39d - SSHELISBN: 0761935738Publication Date: 2009This book provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the status of Dalits in contemporary India. It delineates their economic and social status and charts the changes since 1947 with respect to important indicators of human development.- Untouchable Freedom: A Social History of a Dalit Community byCall Number: 305.5680954 P886u - Main Stacks & SSHELISBN: 0195650751Publication Date: 2001This volume is on the Balmikis of Delhi, who work as sanitation workers and keep the city clean. They live in poverty and face sustained discrimination. In response the Balmikis fight to liberate themselves, Untouchable Freedom is the first comprehensive study of this community and traces their struggles from the 1860s to the present, as they have moved from agricultural labor to urban work.
South Asian Vernacular Non-Fiction
While many books in the University Library collection were originally in South Asian vernacular, many have been translated to English for convenience. However, the library has several titles in their original language, mostly in Hindi and Marathi. Several non-fiction titles are actually literary criticism. Here are select titles:
- Bharata Mem Jativada Aura Harijana Samasya byCall Number: DS422.C3 R338 - Main StacksPublication Date: 1981In Hindi. About the socioeconomic problems of the underprivileged in India.
- Culakam: Penkal Etrikollum Camukam byCall Number: HV6250.4.W65 R38 2009 - Main Stacks AsianPublication Date: 2009In Tamil. Artilces on crimes and atrocities against women in India by a Dalit author and political leader from Tamil Nadu.
- Dalita Sahityace Niralepana byCall Number: PK2402 .M3561987 - Oak StreetPublication Date: 1987In Marathi. Literary criticism of Marathi Dalit literature.
- Dalita Sahitya Cintana byCall Number: PK2402 .M3591988 - Oak StreetPublication Date: 1988In Marathi. Study of Marathi Dalit literature.
- Mukanayaka byCall Number: DS481.A6 P36 - Oak StreetPublication Date: 1976In Marathi. About Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.